QuoteOne of the Mission Motorsport guys told me their C1 cost £600. Which is of course for a scrap road car. Add in cost for cage, service parts, suspension, brakes, exhaust, any remapping/rolling road PLUS another road car for spares and a trailer to bring it on and someone to transport it. And then you fail scrutineering on roll cage prep, finally finish that only to have an electric fire extinguisher go off ad THEN have something go wrong with the immobiliser which means that while, before qually, all 2CV and even Mini teams are relaxing and having a bite of breakfast you're running around like headless chickens with Haynes manuals, laptops and random bits of electronics to swap out, only just getting it started in time for qually... not an ideal basis for cheap, practical endurance racing! Heard the car then bouncing off the limiter at Eau Rouge so needing an engine swap a mere 2.something hours into the race wasn't surprising. Road engines aren't designed to do that.
I'm sure they're ok racing cars in their own right but the idea of our 24hr race is that it should be within the average joe's financial and practical reach, should have an element of challenge rather than buying a modern car which should be able to run continuously for 24hrs without too much abuse, should involve a mix of good prep and fast but mechanically sympathetic driving as well as a combination of a great crew who have the ability to make a difference to the race outcome as well as a generous slice of luck.
So no, I don't think C1s should have a place in 2CV racing. I have no issues with Minis - similar costs, similar classic car appeal, similar tech and a similar mindset from guys who appreciate the value of racing cleanly and fairly and not giving yourself something expensive to fix. I don't think throwing the sums of money needed for a C1 only to potentially waste track time and money when something complicated fails is a sensible way to go endurance racing, especially when it risks diluting or devaluing the excellent, friendly, practical, affordable and FUN series we know, love and cherish.
Not been around for a bit or raced the 2cv due to workloads but attended this years spa 24hr race to help try and keep our car running ;D
Was watching with great interest how the c1s got on.
My observations :-
The cars look great
Like the cost side of them as opposed to the ever rising costs of 2cv racing
Mission motorsport had only built the cars just before the race so where not really prepared, aside from the scruiteneering issues / accident damage they suffered an engine failure and a head gasket failure...... that was it !!!!.they had engines straight from a road car as opposed to a race built engine like the 2cv so hardly suprising , as from having trawled the internet most cars of that era have done anything from 60000 miles to 140000 miles so hardly suprising that after a few hours of flat out they failed . In our garage there where 4 engine changes 8 jetting changes , gearbox change , to try and do quick times, all of our engines where properly built engines.
Our car is looking in a very sorry state bodywise and is going to cost an awfull lot of money in panels / shell repair , as the parts are not in abundance for 2cvs as most people now are restoring them rather than thrashing round a track.
So as well as our existing 2cv car we are building 2 x c1s, and i know of another 2 people who wish to do the same.
My calculated costs so far based on me sucessfully winning a bid on copart:-
Donor car £250-£350 co-part damaged repairable
Repair panels for above car £185
Cage £300-£400
fire extinguisher kit £139.89
seat fia approved £260
billet bottom arms £ 150
engine reconditioned been quoted £450 ( depends on initial condition )
so in parts £1535 or say £2000 tops
There are 2cv engines out there that cost that much alone !!!!